To start Saturday, Chuck and I attended the 8 AM mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Little Flower. For breakfast, I headed for the Western Broiler, a greasy spoon eatery I saw advertised in the newspaper. The ad claims they have the "Best flapjacks west of the Mississippi" and that their biscuits were voted "Best in the South Side" in a newspaper reader poll.

I smiled greatly the minute I walked in. The atmosphere is great. Plenty of locals chowing down on biscuits and gravy. I opted for two pancakes with a biscuit on the side. The pancakes were great and the biscuit was fantastic. The biscuit was big, fluffy, and warm.

After dropping Chuck off at MACC, I headed for the San Antonio Zoo. The zoo is nice, but smaller than I expected. The African area is under reconstruction, so you have to walk a little out of the way to view the African animals. Most of the large animals were hiding in the shade due to the 106 degree heat. The coolest animals were the pelicans and the albino alligator. Another cool sight was seeing a momma kangaroo with a baby kangaroo in her pouch.

From the zoo, I took the fun mini-train ride around Brackenridge Park where the zoo is located. The ride only lasts twenty minutes, but it was fun. Following the train ride I went to check out the Japanese Garden (A.K.A. the Sunken Garden or the Chinese Garden). I remembered visiting the site on my 1997 trip to San Antonio. The garden is officially closed for renovation, but they do not have anything blocking you from walking around. It's kind of sad, because the garden is now just overgrown and structures are broken down while the city is attempting to raise money for the renovation.

From the park I headed to the McNay Art Museum. A big thumbs up for this museum of modern art. The museum is the former home of a wealthy woman, Marion Koogler McNay. The museum hosts a fine collection of Renoir, Chagall, Picasso, etc. A plus is that the museum does not charge an entry fee. The house itself is a beautiful old mansion.

From the McNay, I headed downtown for mass at the cathedral. I expected another mariachi mass, but they only had a couple of guitars. The next mariachi mass is next weekend.

Next I headed to the Riverwalk for dinner. I figured since it might be my last time on the Riverwalk, I would splurge on a nice dinner with no beans or rice. I settled on an excellent Italian restaurant Paesano's. For dinner I dined on a seared sea bass with raspberry vinaigrette, blood oranges, spinach, and grilled eggplant.

From the flapjacks to the eggplant, this was definitely the best dining day so far in San Antonio. My stomach is overjoyed!